SAN FRANCISCO— Todd Steiner, executive director of Turtle Island Restoration Network, has been elected to the Center for Biological Diversity’s board of directors. Steiner has spent more than 30 years as an organizational leader, biologist and director of successful advocacy campaigns for endangered marine species and ocean habitats.“Todd Steiner brings an uncompromising commitment to the Earth’s wildlife and deep expertise in ocean campaigns, including tireless work to protect dolphins from tuna fishing and closing endangered Pacific leatherback sea turtle habitat to drift gillnetting,” said Kierán Suckling, the Center’s executive director. “I look forward to working with Todd as a member of our board.”Steiner is the founder and executive director of Turtle Island Restoration Network, as well as a member of its board . He oversees the award-winning nonprofit organization’s initiatives: SeaTurtles.org, the Salmon Protection and Watershed Network, andGotMercury.org. He holds a master’s degree in biology and a bachelor’s of science in nature conservation and interpretation.Steiner initially founded SeaTurtles.org as a project of Earth Island Institute in 1989, and quickly catalyzed a successful international campaign that ended Mexico’s legal sea turtle slaughter. He also served as the director of Earth Island’s Save the Dolphin Project, which stopped the U.S. tuna fishing fleet, and international fleets that export tuna to the United States, from setting nets on dolphins. He serves on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Marine Turtle Specialist Group, Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council, and NOAA-California Department of Fish and Wildlife Priority Action Coho Salmon Team Technical Working Group.“I’m delighted and honored to serve on the Center for Biological Diversity’s Board of Directors. The Center is a model of hard-hitting environmental activism we rarely see these days from other national environmental organizations. My goal is to help strengthen the grassroots environmental movement, especially in the marine realm, which is our best hope for a healthy future for biodiversity,” said Steiner.

The Center’s board members are responsible for ensuring the organization’s growth, setting policy and strengthening the Center’s position as a powerful force to protect wildlife and habitats. Steiner joins the Center’s current board members: Board Chair Marcey Olajos; Matt Frankel, an emergency room physician; Robin Silver, Center co-founder and staff member; and Stephanie Zill, CPA and treasurer.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 675,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

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